Joliet Ironworks Investigation

The Joliet Iron and Steel Works was once the second largest steel mill in the United States. Joliet Iron Works was initially run from 1869 to 1936. Joliet Steel Works eventually became unprofitable, and all operations were ceased by the early 1980s.

In the 1990s, the Forest Preserve District of Will County purchased the property containing the ruins of the ironworks to preserve a piece of history. The district operates the site as the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site.

The works were originally owned and operated by the Joliet Iron and Steel Company, which was acquired by the Illinois Steel Company shortly after its formation in 1889. In turn, Illinois Steel was acquired by Federal Steel, which went on to be central in the formation of U.S. Steel.

The rolling mill, a key element of the works, struck its first blow in March 1873. Railroad rails rolled at the Joliet Works played a key role in the expansion of America's railroad infrastructure.

The works had a dam on the Des Plaines River for power, and four blast furnaces capable of producing up to 2,000 tons of pig iron daily. There was also a stock house, a casting house, hot blast stoves, a skull house, a gas washing plant, a blowing engine house, and a gas engine house.

Around the turn of the century, Joliet Iron Works had approximately 2,000 workers on its payroll. Workers came from Southern Europe and Eastern Europe, and faced dangerous work hazards including toxic fumes, falls from high places, and extensive heat.

The workers at the Joliet Works were involved in the Steel Strike of 1919.

Around 1926, the Steel Works employed approximately 4,000 workers.

A 1.5-mile paved trail provides visitors a view of the remains of the Joliet Iron Works. The trail includes interpretive signs that explain the process of making iron and steel and the specific skills of the workers.

Bordering the Iron Works is the Illinois and Michigan Canal and attached I & M Canal Trail.

The site is also an access point for the 12.5-mile I&M Canal Trail/Centennial Trail. This trail, of which portions are paved or crushed limestone, connects Joliet's City Center to the Centennial Trail in Cook County, Illinois.

Amenities at Joliet Iron Works Historic Site were renovated in 2009 and 2010. The preserve now offers a picnic shelter, restroom facilities, and drinking water.

Address: Columbia & Scott Streets, Joliet, IL 60432

Phone: 815-727-8700

Website: www.reconnectwithnature.org/Preserves-Trails/Preserves/Joliet-Iron-Works-Historic-Site

Hauntings: There have been isolated reports of some paranormal activity associated with this location in the past. Psychic, Edward Shanahan, has been out with groups in the past and he claimed to have picked up psychic residue left over by the old construction workers who were employed here in the past.

Charles Williams actually shot a picture of what was described as a ghostly figure that looked to be working in one of the ruined areas in the past.

We attempted to make contact with any lingering spirits that might still be hanging around this location during our afternoon visit.

Equipment setup: We used mostly hand-held equipment such as digital recorders, cameras and camcorders, Melmeters, Phasma Box and other communication devices.

Experiments performed: One single Phasma Box session was recorded by some ruins where Williams had photographed what he believed was a spirit of a person. There was some noise contamination due to the wind in the background but it wasn�t too bad.

Personal experiences:

Charles Williams: Experiments- Phasma Box, EVP

Personal Experiences- Chuck and Diane nothing.

Nothing remarkable here even though I had in the past.

Dale Kaczmarek: It wasn�t particularly active when we visited the site but we were completely alone without any human contamination. An occasional car driving past and a bit of wind was the only distraction to this investigation.

I didn�t pick up anything of interest but Williams did have a few interesting EVP captures with the Phasma Box. I didn�t hear with he picked up but everyone�s hearing is different.

The Ghost Research Society investigated the Joliet Ironworks location on May 18, 2022. Team members included: Paul Adams, Charles Williams, Diane Oksanen and Dale Kaczmarek

Evidence collected:

Potential ironworks.MP4 � while conducting a Phasma Box session, the word �potential� was blurted out.

Spent years rebuilding ironworks.MP4 � while conducting a Phasma Box session the device suddenly said in a female voice, �spent years rebuilding.�

Work ironworks.MP4 � while conducting a Phasma Box session suddenly we heard and recorded the sounds of people hammering and working.

Conclusions: This was a fascinating place that I never before visited let alone investigated. It was a very extensive ruin of the past ironwork facility that once was housed here. We did not walk the entire facility because it is over a mile and a half. We just visited some of the more visual partial structures and where Williams had photographed the alleged spirit of a former ironwork worker.

We did contact a live Facebook session here and Paul�s son actually tuned in for this investigation. We had quite a few others that also signed in and commented about our adventure here.